8.6 per cent higher power generation in July: Govt

New Delhi, Aug 17 (UNI) Even as regular electricity supply remained elusive across the country, the government today said that power generation in July was 54.04 Billion Unit (BU), 8.6 per cent higher than the level of 49.78 BU recorded in July, 2005.

During April - July, 2006, the actual generation of energy was 216.5 BU surpassing the generation target of about 215.6 BU, registering a growth of 6.1 per cent over the actual generation of 204.09 BU in the corresponding period of last year.

The corresponding growth in April - July, 2005 was 5.2 per cent.

The generation in all the categories, namely thermal, nuclear and hydro not only registered growth ranging from 3.5 per cent to 13.5 per cent over the actual generation in corresponding period of last year but also exceeded the respective target for the current year (April-July, 2006).

The overall Plant Load Factor (PLF) of thermal power stations during April-July, 2006 touched 75.3 per cent as compared to the actual PLF of 73.7 per cent during corresponding period of last year, an official statement said.

Inadequate gas supply continued to be major constraint. The gas based stations being capable of operating at 90 per cent plant load factor continued to operate at lower capacity due to shortage of gas and the Generation loss of about 8.0 BU was witnessed during April-July, 2006.

But for the afore-mentioned generation loss due to shortage of gas, the actual generation during the year would have been about 104 per cent of the target as compared to 100.4 per cent actually achieved and would have also registered a growth of about 10.0 per cent over the actual generation during the preceding year.

The coal supply position at the thermal power stations also improved considerably during the current year with the total stock at all the stations as on 31st July, 2006 being about 17.06 Million Ton (MT) as compared to about 10.0 MT on July, 31, 2005.

The peak demand met in July, 2006 was 83,233 MW as compared to 75,122 MW met in July, 2005.

UNI RT CS PC1657